Australian news, and some related international items

Whyalla powering ahead – with renewable energy!

Why Tony, Whyalla’s still on the map … and powering ahead, Brisbane Times, By Peter FitzSimons, 15 December 2018 The irony is exquisite. Back in 2011 when he was opposition leader, Tony Abbott visited the famed industrial town and warned darkly: “Whyalla will be wiped off the map by Julia Gillard’s carbon tax. Whyalla risks becoming a ghost town, an economic wasteland if this carbon tax goes ahead.”

You get the drift. Back then, the leader of the Libs was sounding the clarion call we still hear in certain sections today: turn your back on the whole idea of a green economy, of lowering emissions, of embracing renewable energy, or face economic Armageddon. But what actually happened? Well, funny you should ask. For just last week, as reported by the‘Tiser, the British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta has announced his plans “to build one of the biggest steelworks in the world in Whyalla, which would aim to pump billions of dollars into the state’s economy and quadruple the city’s population”.

How will those steelworks be powered? Mostly by renewable energy! But wait, there’s more.

There are also plans to sink $145 million into an “intensive horticulture project, powered by solar energy and backed by Chinese investors; a new $45 million hotel on the foreshore to be built by the Pelligra Group, owners of the Holden site in Elizabeth; and a $6 million green organics recycling plant”. You get the drift. Far from being destroyed by the embrace of renewables, Whyalla is heading towards being a national powerhouse, and a renewable powerhouse at that!…… https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/why-tony-whyalla-s-still-on-the-map-and-powering-ahead-20181214-p50me7.html